René
Laloux's mesmerising psychedelic sci-fi animated feature won the Grand Prix at
the 1973 Cannes Film Festival and is a landmark of European animation. Based on
Stefan Wul's novel Oms en série [Oms by the dozen], Laloux's breathtaking vision
was released in France as La Plančte sauvage [The Savage Planet];
in the USA as Fantastic Planet; and immediately drew comparisons to
Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Planet of the Apes (both the 1968
film and Boule's 1963 novel). Today, the film can be seen to prefigure much of
the work of Hayao Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli (Princess Mononoke,
Spirited Away) due to its palpable political and social concerns, cultivated
imagination, and memorable animation techniques.

Fantastic Planet tells the story of "Oms", human-like creatures, kept as
domesticated pets by an alien race of blue giants called "Draags". The story
takes place on the Draags' planet Ygam, where we follow our narrator, an Om
called Terr, from infancy to adulthood. He manages to escape enslavement from a
Draag learning device used to educate the savage Oms — and begins to organise an
Om revolt. The imagination invested in the surreal creatures, music and sound
design, and eerie landscapes, is immense and unforgettable.

Widely regarded as an allegorical statement on the Soviet occupation of
Czechoslovakia, Fantastic Planet was five years in the making at Prague's
Jiri Trnka Studios. The direction of René Laloux, the incredible art of Roland
Topor, and Alain Goraguer's brilliantly complementary score (much sampled by the
hip-hop community) all combine to make Fantastic Planet a mind-searing
experience.

• Fantastic
Laloux featurette/interview with René Laloux (25:58) - 4:3 in French
with English subtitles

• René Laloux's short film Les Escargots
(10:52)
• Music Video by Sean Lennon Would I Be The One (inspired by
Fantastic Planet) - (4:25)

• Trailer

• Photo Gallery

DVD Release Date: October 23rd, 2007Keep Case
Chapters: 12

Comments:

ADDITION: Accent - November 07':
Although taken from the same source (same damage marks) - it appears as
though the Accent (distributed by Facets Video) has had some boosting as
colors are, perhaps falsely, enriched.
Hence it also exhibits a tinge of edge-enhancement. Both are Region 0 in
the NTSC format - and both are interlaced transfers. Plus both offer an
English language version plus the original French edition with optional
English subtitles. Other than that the subtitle font is different (see
sample below) as well as the supplements.

Accent also offers the René Laloux's 10 minute short
film; Les Escargots, but adds a 30 minute
interview with the director (with optional English subtitles) - and that
is a nice touch. The Accent includes a music video by Sean Lennon -
Would I Be The One (supposedly inspired by Fantastic Planet),
a trailer and a photo gallery. MoC differs in the addition of Comment Wang-Fo Fut
Sauvé (15 minutes - Laloux considered it his best work!)
and a 40-page liner notes booklet with some essays about Laloux, Roland Topor, and Alain Goraguer.
Hmmm... I lean toward the Masters of Cinema which is currently slightly
more expensive at the writing of this comparison. I suspect many will go
for the one most accessible to them but the MoC, to my eyes, has the
more accurate and preferable image.

On the Eureka
MoC: The only master that Eureka Masters
of Cinema were able to obtain was from an interlaced transfer. The
good side to that is that it is not interlaced due to a weak DVD
rendition. Hence, the 'combing' properties are virtually unnoticeable
(even on most high end systems). I would say the print looks a shade
dirty but I have no experience with this film which is animation from
over 30 years ago (not comparable to today's standards). There appears
to be no untoward damage and matches MoC's previous high quality with
then anamorphic 1.66 original ratio. I suspect that the screen captures
can tell you a better story of how this Fantastic Planet! DVD
looks - it has good detail in warm pastel colors.

It should be noted that there are at least two other DVD
representation of this film available - (US Anchor Bay - now OOP
- and Australian Force Entertainment). Unlike this Masters of
Cinema edition both used a non-anamorphic 1.66 image, with *ingrained
subs*. The fact that this is 1.66:1 OAR anamorphic and has optional subs
leans it to be the definitive digital version available.

Supplements include two René Laloux's animation short
films; Les Escargots (10 minutes) and Comment Wang-Fo Fut
Sauvé (15 minutes - Laloux considered it his best work!).
There is also a 40-page liner notes booklet with some essays about
Laloux, Roland Topor, and Alain Goraguer.

Post Disney's classic era there was
quite a lot of cult animation features made in the late 60's 1970's
including Yellow Submarine, Ralph Bakshi's work and others. In
the vein of artistic expression Rene Laloux's masterpiece "Fantastic
Planet" stands out for its strong message (the evils of propaganda).
A highly important film that we recommend!